413 
Egg-collecting in Asia Minor. 
the superintendent. As soon as he heard of my projected 
expedition to the lake and marshes at the mouth of the 
Meander, Mr. H-, who is a good sportsman and has 
the tastes of a naturalist, offered to go with me, and as 
his time was limited we determined to start that very night. 
We at once set to work on our preparations, and by mid¬ 
night had everything ready. We sent one man on ahead 
with a pack-horse carrying our baggage—which we cut down 
to the smallest limits—and then lay down to rest for an 
hour and a half. We then had something to eat and a cup 
of tea, and started for Sakizbounou at about 2 a.m. I left 
Demetrius behind with instructions to return to Bournabat 
the next day, but took with me my Turkish servant, who 
carried a shot-gun, while Mr. H- was accompanied 
by a trusty Circassian armed with a rifle. 
After leaving the town of Sokia we rode westward down the 
valley of the Meander, keeping the dim figure of the Circassian 
—who, being intimately acquainted with the country, acted 
as our guide—constantly in view. At first the path we were 
following led us along the river’s bank, and then we struck 
across a great open plain. We passed several Yuruk en¬ 
campments, round which the shadowy forms of camels and 
horses were feeding, and much disturbed the equanimity of 
the great wolf-like sheep-dogs, which always left their charge 
and escorted us for several hundred yards on our journey, 
barking most furiously all the while. Just as day was 
breaking we came to a small village on the bank of the 
Meander. There must have been more than fifty pairs of 
Storks nesting in this small village, and every hovel had two 
or three nests on it. In most of these the young birds 
had already been hatched, but some still contained eggs, on 
which the females were sitting. Although it was as yet 
scarcely daylight the great majority of the Storks were 
already on the look-out for food. They were walking about 
in crowds just outside the village, very like flocks of geese, 
and were almost as tame. 
About 6 o’clock on the morning of May 13th we reached 
Sakizbounou, a small Turkish village on the Meander 
